5 of the world’s places to get your motor running

When it comes to adventuring and touring at extreme speeds through wide desert expanses, Big Red Adventure Tours in Dubai do it best and will have you comfortably cruising under the Arabian sun in your own one-seater, 4-wheel drive buggy. With no licence or training required for this white-knuckle experience, you’ll also be given the option of a sunset tour as well as a traditional Bedouin campsite dining experience under the stars.

There really is only one way to cruise the mountainous and craggy outcrop of Lanzarote, one of the remote Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa. Grab yourself a three-wheeled, roofless Polaris Slingshot from the team at Aventura LanzaBuggy and explore hidden beaches, inland desert roads and some of the most picturesque landscapes in the entire Atlantic. The Slingshot vehicle is lightweight, and designed for hugging the road of this island’s endless tight turns.

Take one of multiple routes in an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) up the Lava Trail of Bicol’s Mount Mayon Volcano in Legazpi, Philippines. Depending on both your budget and your experience, you’ll cross rivers, fields and accelerate up some pretty steep terrain while always looking ahead at the ominous, conical mountain in the distance. Once you meet the lava front, you’ll have the chance to turn the bike around and meander back through friendly local villages and rainforest with the promise of a hearty meal (and a cold beer) at the end.

Everyone in Svalbard drives a snowmobile, just like everyone in Amsterdam rides a bike. Svalbard Adventures can take you on single-day or multi-day trips to remote abandoned Russian settlements, overnight northern lights tours as well as ice cave hikes to the famous Tellbreen glacier. After a long motorised journey through the snow covered landscape, you’ll turn off your engine and disappear into the hidden, glittering ice passageways, in some places the layers of ice here are as clear as glass.

Only in America (and more specifically the state of Nevada) would a government designate a natural area of sand dunes as an Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation area. Just outside Las Vegas, Nellis Dunes is an adrenaline junkie’s playground and the site of Las Vegas’ ATV (All-Terrain Vehicles) Tours. With over 4,000 rideable hectares consisting of sand dunes and canyon trails, lose yourself in the desert. At sunset you can also ride to the highest point and watch the twinkling casino lights of ‘The Strip’ in the distance. On most days fighter jets will also zip overhead from Nellis Air Force Base, definitely adding an edge of adrenaline to this experience.

Just outside Las Vegas, Nellis Dunes is an adrenaline junkie’s playground and the site of Las Vegas’ ATV (All-Terrain Vehicles) Tours. With over 4,000 rideable hectares consisting of sand dunes and canyon trails, you can lose yourself in the desert.